To have or not to have: expression of amino acid transporters during pathogen infection

Abstract

AbstractThe interaction between plants and plant pathogens can have significant effects on ecosystem performance. For their growth and development, both bionts rely on amino acids. While amino acids are key transport forms of nitrogen and can be directly absorbed from the soil through specific root amino acid transporters, various pathogenic microbes can invade plant tissues to feed on different plant amino acid pools. In parallel, plants may initiate an immune response program to restrict this invasion, employing various amino acid transporters to modify the amino acid pool at the site of pathogen attack. The interaction between pathogens and plants is sophisticated and responses are dynamic. Both avail themselves of multiple tools to increase their chance of survival. In this review, we highlight the role of amino acid transporters during pathogen infection. Having control over the expression of those transporters can be decisive for the fate of both bionts but the underlying mechanism that regulates the expression of amino acid transporters is not understood to date. We provide an overview of the regulation of a variety of amino acid transporters, depending on interaction with biotrophic, hemibiotrophic or necrotrophic pathogens. In addition, we aim to highlight the interplay of different physiological processes on amino acid transporter regulation during pathogen attack and chose the LYSINE HISTIDINE TRANSPORTER1 (LHT1) as an example.